Love to Burn
by sieg124
Summary: He never joined the Ravens and he's never once spoken a word to her. Their lives don't cross paths and she moves away while he's tied down to his hometown after a fatal accident. Time goes on though, things change and then one day their paths do cross and nothing is ever the same. AU LP.
1. Chapter 1

AN: So this is a new story, I know I suck at updating my other stories but I'll get to that eventually. I don't know how long this will be and it's AU, all the different details should be explained along the way. Please leave feedback if you do read. Title comes from a Seahaven song. Enjoy.

* * *

'So kiddo, what do you say we lock this place up and then head on home and invite Haley over for supper?'

'Can we watch a movie afterwards?'

'Well…I suppose,' he responded amusedly.

'And have ice cream?'

Lucas stopped then, his hands on his hips and his eyes raised as he looked down at his five-year-old sister who was flashing him puppy dog eyes that she knew he could never say no to.

'Now you listen here missy, I'm the adult and you can't just expect to waltz your way around me with your adorable brown eyes and your cute little nose,' he started as he kneeled down to her level and tapped his finger against said cute little nose.

'You say I can't, but you always fall for it anyways,' she smiled at him coyly.

'No I don't.'

'Yes you do.'

'No, I don't.'

'Yes you do,' she giggled.

'Okay…maybe I do, but it doesn't matter because we're out of ice cream anyways.'

He stood back up and reached his hand out to her as they walked through the shop.

'I bet Haley has ice cream, we should tell her to bring some with her,' Lily went on as they exited the door and Lucas turned around to lock it up and laughed.

'It'd melt on her way over Lils.'

'No it wouldn't,' she huffed as they walked to his mustang and he held the door open for her before getting in himself and starting it up.

'Yes, it would. Besides, we can get ice cream tomorrow when we go to the Burning Boat Festival.'

'Yeah?'

'Yeah,' he nodded as he looked over at her before setting his eyes on the road as they made their drive home.

It wasn't a long ride and soon enough Lily was pushing her way out of the car and running up ahead of him even though she knew just as well as he did that the front door was locked.

He shook his head as he finally caught up to her, fishing his keys out from his pocket.

'You see this is exactly why you can't have ice cream, you have way too much energy.'

'Maybe you're just old,' she playfully fired back as he fumbled with the lock and pushed the door open.

'I'm not _that _old,' he pouted as he closed the door behind her and took off his shoes.

'Yes you are, now can I call Haley?'

'Sure,' he nodded as she wandered down the hall into the kitchen where the phone was. 'And don't you even think about asking her to bring you any ice cream,' he added knowing that's what she exactly planned on doing.

As he took off his jacket and made his way down the hall he thought about the way his life was now. He wasn't quite sure how he landed where he had, but he had and he took it all on willingly because he wanted nothing but the best for his little sister.

She had become his pride and joy in the past few years and without her he's not sure he would have survived.

After he had graduated from high school, he didn't really know what he wanted to do with his life. He'd always had a passion for basketball, but never taking that step to join the Tree Hill Ravens team meant he had no real chance of playing in college. And he supposed that that was one of his biggest regrets, that he missed out on the opportunity to do something he loved because of that infamous reputation he carried of being Dan Scott's bastard son, Nathan Scott's brother that held him back.

In the eyes of his classmates he was a nobody looking in on the somebodies through a fogged over window and so he stuck to what he knew, playing street ball with the guys down at the Rivercourt while ducking his head in the hallways at school.

And as his best friend put it, hopelessly brooding over the venomous curly haired cheerleader.

But that was all in the past and with a little guidance from his mom and Keith he went to a local college that had a great English program considering books were his second calling next to basketball.

It came as no surprise to anyone when Keith and Karen got engaged his senior year of high school, and when they eventually wed that following summer he'd never seen his mother happier.

The ceremony had been held outside, at a quaint lake and it had been a beautiful afternoon. They hadn't invited many people and Lucas remembered walking down the aisle with Haley, the maid of honor, feeling nothing but pure bliss thinking that maybe they were all finally out of the blue, they were past all the pain.

A year later when his sister was born and he held her in his arms for the first time he remembered feeling the exact same thing, and it was indeed one of the best days of his life.

The next three years of his life had gone on. He worked hard at school while holding a steady job at Keith's shop and helping out with his sister when possible.

Time had flown by and then suddenly he had earned his degree, graduated with honors and found himself taking a smiling portrait in cap and gown with his family.

Life was alright and he was in the transition of figuring out what the future held for him when he got a phone call that no one ever wants to receive.

It was an unknown number that had appeared on the screen of his cellphone and it was the sympathetic tone of the unfamiliar speaker that alerted him first, but he had stopped comprehending what was being said to him when the words _dead upon impact, both of them _had floated into his ear.

Karen and Keith had been on their way home from dinner when a drunk driver had plowed through an intersection and slammed into them, the driver and them both killed within seconds.

It was then that Lucas found the path he needed to take, holding in his grief and anger as he made all the necessary changes for a life that involved raising his little sister.

His parent's (Keith had adopted him when he was 18 and he saw him as the only father he had) house was left in his possession and he moved in easily, not wanting to put Lily through the pain of having to lose any familiarity she had left. He was also given the ownership of Keith's Body Shop and he kept it running, earning a stable source of income to support him and his sister and the house they lived in.

And although no one knew, he had started writing whenever he had the time, usually late at night letting the what if's of his life play out on paper in front of his own eyes.

'What are we going to have for supper?' Lily asked as he made his way into the kitchen.

'Well what are you hungry for?'

'Pizza.'

'Pizza it is then,' he nodded as he picked up the phone and ordered a pizza for the three of them.

Lily meanwhile had run off to the living room to pick out a movie as he hung up and grabbed a couple of plates and napkins and set them on the coffee table that sat before the tv that Lily was seated down in front of.

They heard a knock at the door a couple of minutes later and Luke got up to open it while Lily stayed where she was immersed in all the different DVDs she had scattered on the floor.

'Haley, glad you could make it,' Lucas greeted.

'Like I'd miss out on our weekly dinner night,' she laughed as they hugged before following him inside.

'Well if I were you I wouldn't be so happy about that because the little one's been out of control the entire day.'

'I have not,' Lily piped in as they both sat down on the couch.

'Yes you have.'

'Have not.'

'Have too,' Lucas mocked her as he crossed his arms over his chest and smiled.

'Nu uh.'

'Uh huh.'

Haley sat looking between them both and couldn't help but smile. Lucas cared so much for Lily and sometimes she couldn't believe how he had managed to give her the best possible life he could and yet never show any of the pain or darkness she knew that was hidden deep within him.

She had known him practically her entire life and she knew that he was content where he was, he wasn't bitter about the way things had turned out, but at the same time she knew that something was missing.

He was missing something and it had shown in his eyes whenever he wasn't around Lily.

And she knew that he had never fully come to terms with Karen and Keith's deaths. He'd never had the time to let it all go, to properly grieve and take his anger out on the world for not only their perishing but for all the other disappointments that had been endured in his life.

He was living only for his sister and she knew that even that wasn't enough, it never could be.

'Do you two ever stop bickering?'

'No.'

'Yes.'

Their voices sounded at the same time just before the doorbell rang and Haley just shook her head at them both. Lucas winked at his sister before patting Haley on the knee and getting up to go pay for their pizza.

'So, did anything interesting happen today?' Haley asked Lily.

'Nope…well actually, this pretty woman came to get her car fixed or something and she told me I was pretty,' Lily said with a shy smile as she got up off the floor and took a seat on the couch next to Haley.

'Well that's because you are silly,' Haley said as she ran her hand through Lily's brown locks.

'I asked Luke if he thought she was pretty too.'

'And what'd he say?' Haley asked intrigued.

'He said she was very pretty and that her car would be ready in a few days and then we'd said goodbye.'

'Hmm, you should do that more often,' Haley said with a smirk, knowing that'd drive Lucas absolutely insane.

Lucas walked back into the room then with a pizza box in hand and set it down on the table before sitting to the right of Lily on the couch.

'So what have you guys been talking about?' He asked as they all began dishing out pieces.

'The very pretty woman that came to the shop today,' Haley filled in for him. 'You didn't happen to get her number, did you?' Her eyebrow raised in mirth.

'No,' he rolled his eyes, starting up the movie with the remote knowing Lily wouldn't pay attention to either of them as soon as it began. 'And even if I had, I wouldn't have called.'

'Oh come on Lucas, you can't possibly tell me you want to stay single for the rest of your life, you haven't been on one serious date in years.'

'I just don't have the time for that type of commitment in my life right now, Haley. You know that.'

And his defense he honestly didn't. He supposed too that his heart just wasn't in it. It had been over half a decade since he graduated from high school and it had been just as long since he last saw the girl he had ever felt anything for.

And that was just the catch because he'd never even spoken a single word to her and she was gone now and life had simply moved on.

A relationship, any relationship was just simply out of the question.

Neither of them spoke for sometime, their focus going to the movie that was playing and soon enough the ending credits were rolling on screen and Lily had fallen asleep between them both, her body slouching against Lucas.

'She needs a mother Lucas, she needs some womanly figure in her life and will even more so in the future,' Haley spoke quietly, finally breaking the silence between them as she peered down at Lily.

'And she has that Hales, she has _you._'

She smiled sadly over at him. 'I appreciate that Luke I really do and I'll always be there for her, but we both know that I'm not always around, I'm not just across the hall, I'm not a permanent fixture to this house.'

'You don't have to be Haley, Keith didn't live with my mom and I until-'

'That's completely different Luke. Keith was _in love_ with your mother, and I may love you buddy, but not like that,' she smiled at him lightly before sobering.

'You _need _to find your Keith, Lucas and that may sound weird but you need to, not only for your sake but Lily's.'

He nodded solemnly because she was absolutely right.


	2. Chapter 2

'Luke.'

Nothing.

'Luke,' she pushed his shoulder lightly.

He let out a murmur and nothing else.

Without a thought she rounded to the other side of the bed and climbed into it, lowering herself below the covers before rolling onto her side to face his slumbering body.

She crawled into his arms, her back to his chest, her head just below his head.

It seemed to work as his eyes slowly opened, his brain trying to register the form that was nestled into him.

'Lily? What're you doing?'

'I had a nightmare.'

'Mm, about what?' He was satisfied with her answer, holding her closer to him remembering the way his mother used to hold him when he'd had his own late night horror dreams.

'You.'

'Me?'

_They were walking, she didn't know why and she didn't where but they were walking. _

_Or more so she was following him, trying to warn him. Warn him of the black willowing shadow that trailed behind, so often reaching out and latching onto his back the further they walked. _

_She had started running, yelling her lungs out but no noise ever escaping her lips. He either couldn't hear her or she just couldn't help him. _

_Her legs were tiring, and she was crying because she just wanted her brother, he was all she had and he was leaving her, leaving her all alone. _

_But suddenly he stopped, the black cloud that was sizing him up stopped too. His eyes met hers as he turned around, but only for a moment before he raised his chin and stared longingly up at the sky._

_She found herself doing the same. _

_The sun was high, so high and Lucas saw how insignificant he truly was as it's depth shone from a measurement his human mind could never possibly comprehend. _

_He saw the sun, but his sister saw the sky. _

_It was a magnificent blue, the kind that no crayon box has, the kind that's endless and makes you retrospective, the kind she found herself happily, drastically drowning in. _

_She looked away though, falling back to the place where her throat was burning and her face felt stiff and that black cloud was still threatening the only family she had. _

_And when she looked around this time, she made sense of their surroundings, being truly in the middle of nowhere. _

_Probably a countryside, or maybe a meadow she thought as the waves of wildflowers among them scratched softly at her knees and flowed like a foreign sea, different than the ocean she was accustomed to. _

_There was a lone tree that stood a few feet behind Lucas, towering as an oasis of shade from that endless sun. _

_It was all so beautiful and yet she felt as if something was wrong. _

_She glanced back at her brother, his eyes peaceful, his hair windswept, the corners of his mouth curling as he looked at her again._

_And before she knew it, he was walking towards her, he was lifting her up and spinning her around. _

_He hadn't left her, he'd came back and that black cloud was gone for all she could tell and he was her brother again. _

_He set her down, clasping his right hand in her smaller one before smiling and pulling her backwards. They fell like feathers to the ground and the world in it's entirety encircled them. _

_It was an experience that led her to understand the true definition of the word safe, of the word secure. And she knew that's what her brother had always been to her, would always be._

_Everything was still as they laid there side by side, drinking in the sun and the sky and the purity that represented the air around them. _

_He was in the process of saying that Mom and Dad were up there in that masterpiece, that it was them and millions of others who outlined, sketched, painted, and sculpted that wonderful sight. He was in the process of saying that the ones you love, the ones that love you are everything and exist on when even it seems they don't. _

_He was in the process of saying all this though when she turned her head to him and asked quite innocently, 'Who do you love?'_

_He laughed at her and gave her hand a tug and responded easily with, 'You silly.'_

_She shook her head. 'Who do you _love _though, like Mom loved Dad and Dad loved Mom?'_

_He closed his mouth and looked sharply away for a second, and she immediately felt as if she'd said the wrong thing. He was quiet and the warmth that filled her body suddenly drained when he finally looked at her and murmured, 'I…I don't know…no one.'_

_It was as if she was given a choice and she took the wrong option because that black monster swiftly ascended upon them both with malice in it's features and she felt her brother's hand loosen from her grip. _

_She heard his sharp intake of breathe, watched the color drain from his eyes, felt the emptiness in her chest as that black cloud blanketed his entire body and swallowed him completely before disappearing upward into the afternoon, taking any familiarity she had ever obtained with it. _

_The only remainder of him was the flattened patch of grass where he had laid relaxed moments ago and in her mind it was all her fault. Unlike earlier when she had been chasing him down he had heard her loud and clear this time, but she still couldn't help him._

_Her eyes watered over and she blinked numerous times before taking a final glance at the landscape above her. _

_It was one shade more magnificent, the air was one sniff more organic, and the world was one way more pure and evil all at once. And she couldn't help but think his soul was up there, adding his own unique touches to a canvas that had been worked on too often._

_Because after all she loved him and he was everything and he would exist on up there above the clouds even when he wasn't physically touching the ground. _

'I couldn't help you,' she whispered.

His heart ached at the way she said those words and he clasped one of his hands with hers.

'What do you mean you couldn't help me?'

'I couldn't help you be happy.'

* * *

There she said it, she wasn't completely happy.

She was sick of the life she lived and she was sick of the town she lived it in and she was just so restless with her everyday life.

Maybe she was restless with him too.

'I just…I just feel like I should be doing more.'

'What do you mean you should be doing more? You work so much already-'

'I said I should be doing more, not working more at a job that I have no way of ever advancing myself in,' she let out frustrated.

'But, I thought you liked your job?'

'I thought I liked it too, but the company's changed with the industry and I'm still just some lower level exec whose practically just a couple of steps above the mail room.'

'So screw this label and find a job at a better one who actually gives a damn about the material they're putting out.'

'You make it all sound so easy,' she said with a small smile and a tilt of the head.

'It's the charm and my incredible looks right?' He smirked confidently and she let out a snort.

'And yet you're still single.'

'Just like my roommate…' he responded airily crossing his arms as she just rolled her eyes at him.

And as she thought about it, it was still weird to think they were roommates.

She was a 24-year-old woman and still had a male roommate. It worked for them though, they were practically best friends and considering the price of rent for a decent sized apartment in Los Angeles, a splint rent had suited her financially when she was just getting started a few years ago.

She'd met him when she was 20 and had been living on the West Coast for about two years as they practically ran into each other on one of the city's bustling sidewalks.

She'd been in a hurry, rushing to a place she'd never been to for a meeting that could very well get her out of the dreaded mail room when she rounded a corner too fast and the coffee that was in her hand spilled all over the pants of the body she ran smack into.

He let out a hiss and a curse at the same time and she found herself muttering several sorrys as she bent over to pick up the papers he'd dropped.

He told her he was sorry though because he actually needed to be late for the meeting he was headed off to and they shared a laugh.

They said their goodbyes and parted ways and it wasn't until Peyton arrived at her destination a good half hour later, completely disoriented after getting lost from having the wrong address that she saw him again.

He apparently had been going to the same meeting she had, and even more so she'd been walking in the wrong direction when they'd bumped into each other.

His pants had a major coffee stain on them and he didn't seem to give a damn about that and she supposed it was nice to meet someone who wasn't just another stuffy business type.

When he saw her he grinned and knew immediately from her frazzled expression that she was the woman that the manager he met with had been waiting on and so he put in a good word to the man, exclaimed that the brown stain had been made by her of all people and that it was his fault for not having been a gentleman and asking where she was going off to so fast so that he could have saved her the trouble from showing up late.

They went out for drinks that night, getting along quickly and she had gone on about needing a different place to stay as her lease was going to expire soon and he'd conveniently been in the exact same boat. With a little alcohol in the system, he suggested they share a place together, as roommates only and unlike her usual adept self she agreed and that was that.

They stayed as nothing more than friends, never crossing or even coming close to blurring that line between friends and something more.

She saw him only as a friend, maybe even more like a brother and much to his dismay he hated that. Because the truth was he had liked her from the get go and he had figured that after so long he'd be able to wear her down and that was why he had stayed single because she was the only girl he had eyes for.

She had no clue though and he didn't know how long he'd be able to go on pretending.

'I think I need to go back home,' she blurted out.

'What?'

'There's nothing here for me anymore, there never has been,' she said distantly, as if voicing an epiphany.

His jaw clenched and it took all he had not to open his mouth and say that _he_ was there for her, he'd been there with her for the past four years when no one else seemingly had.

He knew though her mind was already made up and whatever he said would be useless so he just nodded.

'Maybe you do.'

Maybe she needed to get away and see that he was exactly what she needed, see that _he_ was the one that mattered, _he _was the best she'd ever find.

'You think so?'

'Well I might not agree with it and it's going to suck with you gone, but if it's what you have to do it's what you have to do.'

He walked over to her and grabbed both of her hands. 'Just be happy, find what make you happy.'

She dropped his hands and wrapped her arms around him, knowing with all her heart she'd miss this what-was-once-perfect-stranger and everything he'd done for her.

If only she really knew though, how much of a stranger he had been and still was.

* * *

_AN: Not too exciting, but the exposition was necessary for the story and next chapter will have LP interaction. Any guesses on who Peyton's roommate is? Mmm…be prepared to be pleasantly surprised._


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